


Must Love Dogs

by Samoose



Category: Supernatural
Genre: dog shelter au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-12 06:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/808540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samoose/pseuds/Samoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel runs a dog shelter and Sam has collected one too many strays for Dean's comfort. Sam ends up being a frequent guest to the shelter, just to make sure his dogs are being treated right...but he and Gabe's friendship blossoms in ways they never would have imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an entry for the dogshelter AU contest made by speightdaysaweek on tumblr!  
> Oh and everyone is human, I really hope you enjoy and i'm writing this as quickly as I can but comments are adored~!

Sam looked at the clock and wrung his hands together, sitting on the edge of the couch. The tv was on but he wasn't watching it, he was lost in his thoughts, staring intently at a spot on the floor.

They lived in a small apartment on the second floor of the garage Dean and Bobby ran together, so he knew he could expect his brother any minute now.

When he heard keys in the door his body tensed and he jumped up to be there when it opened.

"Dean, welcome home.  Don't get mad but, I have something to te--" His elder brother stopped him with a hand in the air, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

A moment's silence passed and Dean threw his arms in the air, "Oh _COME **ON!**_ " he whined angrily "This had _better_ not be what I think it is."

Sam sighed and rubbed absently at the back of his head "Y-yeah, it is. I'm sorry. Look I couldn't just leave him out there."

Dean wasn't listening, he pushed past his little brother with a disappointed shake of his head and bee-lined for Sam's room, throwing the door open.

Half a dozen dogs burst out, tails wagging and ready for dinner, nearly taking the Winchester down with them. Dean whipped his head around and rose a finger to make a point...but...no words came. He was seething and his hand hung there in mid-air.

" _Six?!_ " He finally spat out, dragging his hand down his face and sighing hard. "You can't just take in _every_ stray that you _see_ , Sammy! You told me you'd find them homes, they've _gotta go!_ "

Sam could barely stand straight for a minute to hear Dean out, dogs crowded his legs and he dipped down every other second to pet and appease them. The smile they brought to his face felt so out of place with his brother so mad at him.

"I'm sorry, Dean, I know and I _am_ going to find them homes I just need more time." He started for the kitchen, setting out six metal mixing bowls and filling them with kibble.

Dean took a moment to stand out in the hall, compose himself, and then he rounded the corner to the kitchen, tripping over the dogs and grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"No Sam, you gotta get rid of 'em. I mean.... I _like_ dogs..they're man's best friend or whatever. But this is ridiculous. Tomorrow you take 'em to the shelter or i'm gonna do it for you. Okay?"

Sam's face contorted with distress and he opened his mouth to argue but Dean was already walking away and he didn't want to push it. A shelter? Horrible things happened to dogs in shelters...what if they don't pass the adoption tests..or no one wants them because they're not puppies anymore?

The younger Winchester wasn't an idiot, he knew Dean had already gone out of his way for months now and this was it. He put the bag of kibble down and kneeled, taking the new Labrador's face in his hands and giving him some scratches behind the ears right where he liked it. He peered into his eyes, resigned, "well that's it guys, tomorrow we have to make a trip to the shelter. I'm sorry."

\----

Gabriel waltzed into the main kennel room and threw on the lights "Rise and shhhiiiiiine, puppy loves~!" he chimed happily, walking down the aisle and glancing in each cage for the routine check.

When he got to the end he clapped his hands together and nodded contently, he was greeted with a surging chorus of barks "Everyone looks good! Oh I know, I know, all I am is a walkin' chow machine, get t'work, right?"

As he went from cage to cage, dishing out the homemade dog food perfected in his own kitchen, he made sure to pick up their super comfy pillows to hide in the back.

Thing is, he loved having the dogs around, but he hated that they didn't have homes. What better way to guilt people into trying harder with their pets or convince them to adopt one than to make them think the dogs were suffering?

Before and after hours, these pooches were treated like royalty, but on the clock he made sure their cages looked like something to be saved from. Not so far as to actually make his babies uncomfortable, but just enough so that as far as the people who came by were concerned, he was a hard-ass monster that ran the facility with minimum effort.

It was all an illusion, he was really their angel in disguise.

Gabe was in one of the cages playing tug-o-war with a particularly peppy Rottweiler when he heard the front door chime. A patron.

He hopped up and saw himself out, pulling a pen out of his pocket and twirling it as he paced into the office. Nothing could prepare Gabriel for this sight, though, and his pen went flying out of his hands before he could stop himself "SIX?!" the shock and disappointment rolled off him in waves.

Sam shrunk back at the obvious anger, six leashes getting tangled in his hands as the dogs scurried around sniffing their new surroundings.

Gabe sneered, arms crossed and pen forgotten "What, you gonna pull another one out of your pocket or are you gonna start talkin', champ?"

 "I found them on the streets, I tried to keep them but it hasn't worked out. I'm still in school and my brother has been really patient...but..." he trailed off and looked between his strays, his friends.

"Strays, huh?" suddenly his tone was different, forgiving, even understanding. "You brought 'em to the right place, kiddo, i'm gonna need you to fill out some paperwork." he opened a drawer, fishing out a stack of documents and laying them down.

Sam moved forward but the excited dogs threatened to trip him every step of the way.  Gabe snorted and walked around the counter, gathering up all the leashes from the taller man's hands.

"Here you take care of the boring paper stuff and i'll do the fun part." normally he put on a more harsh face for patrons...but he felt for this kid. Living with his brother, going to school, and he still tried to take in and keep six strays? Gabriel could see plain as day when someone was pure of heart and really needed to let their pets go...why should he add insult to their injury? He only punished the deserving.

Once Gabe got all six of the fuzzballs back in their new quarantine cages and assured them that they'd love his homemade recipes, he forced himself to go back to the office. This was the part he didn't like, the paper work, and dealing with people.

"How's it goin' out here, college boy?" he assumed college anyway, either that or 7th year senior in highschool by the looks of him.

Sam looked up from the forms, he had a darkness hanging around him that Gabe recognized, true regret. "It's going, lots of stuff here i'm not too sure about, I couldn't afford to take them to the vet or anything."

"Don't worry about it--" he leaned over and read the man's name off the top form "--Sam. I'll have them all checked out, it's policy. Don't need any kennel cough going around." Sam frowned even deeper, he had done his research on shelters and didn't like what he found.

He cleared his throat as he filled in the last detail, pushing the papers over to be scrutinized "I don't mean to be pushy, but i'm worried about the conditions they'll be in. I know this is a no-kill shelter but there's all kinds of diseases, and how often do they get to go outside? will they get to socialize at all? Do you have any fine print policies I should know about?"

Gabriel let him finish his entire interrogation, an amused look fixed on his face "Wow. Been on Google lately I guess. Done your research on big bad shelters." he nodded, almost in admiration, this guy was hilarious...and fun. "Just let me do my job and you hit those books, _Go Wildcats!_ " he had no idea what the school mascot was. Oh well it was probably a wildcat, let's be honest.

Sam barely cracked a grin and shook his head "Maybe if I could just come and visit sometime?"

"Better than that, why don't you keep one of them? One dog isn't nearly as hard to look after as _six_ of them."

"Pick one of them? I couldn't. That wouldn't be fair to the other five....at all." Sam was sure of himself, he'd obviously thought about this before coming in. "Well anyway I need to go to class but maybe i'll come back around and see them again, it was nice to meet you.."

"Gabriel." he finished, conversationally. He knew this college kid would forget his name before the day was out and he'd never come and visit. They always said they would and they never did.

Sam smiled and nodded, and he left Gabriel to tend to the new members of his ever changing family. Sam Winchester, what a strange kid.

\----

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: contains animal abuse (or talks about it anyway, nothing physically happens in the writing) and a little bit of well deserved cursing.

Gabriel couldn't have been more wrong.

Bright and early the next day he heard the chime of the door and it stopped him in his tracks. He finished filling the last two bowls with breakfast mix before walking out to see what was going on.

This was the second time in two days Gabriel had been shocked walking into his office, and both times had something in common.... "Sam Winchester, the college kid who moonlights as a stray hoarder. What can I do you for?" He walked over and leaned on the counter, arms crossed, and watched the moose of a man get flustered.

"Hoarder? I don't.... I mean I didn't mean to come across that way." he sighed, that really must be what it looked like. "I just came to see how they were doing. If you don't mind."

Gabriel shrugged "It's only been one night, not much has changed." he looked hesitant...but this kid had proved him wrong about apathy.... "You can come back and see them if you want but you probably shouldn't make a habit of it. It just confuses them if you keep coming back but not taking them home."

Sam understood and he didn't want to cause trouble, but giving them up hadn't been his choice and he was just as attached to them as they were to him. One final goodbye wouldn't hurt...

"I won't stay too long, I just want to see them again. Everything went so fast yesterday."

And so Gabriel led the man back to the room filled with quarantine cages and unceremoniously threw open all the doors. "Have at 'im, pups." he mumbled absently. The dogs weren't paying attention to Gabe at all, they scrambled past him and up to Sam, knocking him over and yipping excitedly while they covered him in sloppy dog kisses.

Honestly Gabe was surprised...not by the way the dogs loved him (dogs really were the loving sort)...but by the look on Sam's face as he let them topple him and returned their affections. He found himself entranced, watching the exchange and smiling.

Sam had forgotten where he was, his attention was easily monopolized by his four-legged friends. After a couple minutes one of the dogs peeled off to go sniff at Gabe's feet, it brought them both back to the real world. Gabe grinned and leaned down, petting the friendly mutt, and Sam cleared his throat and began to stand.

Against his better judgment, Gabe found himself saying "If you wanna stick around a little bit it's fine with me." he realized how weird he sounded and tried to recover "the dogs probably won't appreciate it if you don't and grumpy dogs are _hellish_ to care for." he shrugged with forced apathy before he left the room, waving over his shoulder "i'll be in the office, don't get lost on your way out."

Sam was more than grateful but the words didn't come to him in time. Once Gabriel left, Sam turned to the dog that had wandered to the other man and smiled softly "He's not as much of a jerk as he'd have us think, is he Penny?"

\---

A month went by and every day without fail Sam showed up to see his dogs. He even helped out the day they were moved from their quarantine cages. Gabriel had betrayed all his professional know-how and let him keep coming back. It would be a mess later, but for now everyone was happy...and at least in this situation the sadness didn't have to come until later. Plus he really didn't mind having Sam around.

It had been long enough that Sam had seen Gabriel interact, quite coldly, with some other patrons and he had seen the expanse of the shelter-keeper's monstrous front. Long enough that Gabe thought it was time to show Sam what was really going on. It was nearing closing time and he asked the taller man to help him close shop.

They went into the backroom and Gabe motioned to the pillows as he pulled his special food out of the fridge. "Those need to go in each cage. Make sure Delilah gets the purple one or she'll pitch a fit." He acted distracted so that he wouldn't have to see Sam's reaction, but the moose was _laughing_. Gabe frowned and turned to look at him "What? Is that funny?"

Sam shook his head "No, it's not, i'm sorry. It's just that I knew you were hiding something." Gabe faltered "and how would you _know_ something like that?" he challenged, hands on his hips in sassy defiance.

 "Because once I got in the back I knew what you were doing. You make it look like you're a jerk, but I saw it in Penny's eyes on that second day, these dogs love you and they trust you so you must be doing something right." It almost embarrassed Sam just to say it, but Gabriel was struck by the intuition of the taller man more than anything.

They conducted the close-down quietly and Gabe pretended like he wasn't shaken by the way Sam saw through him.

The next day Sam and Gabriel were hanging out in the office, even though the college kid wasn't officially a worker here, he'd been convinced to help organize some of the paperwork.

Gabe sat on the counter, legs swinging and lollipop between his lips "So how'd you keep all those howlers away from Dean-o for so long?"

Sam shrugged "The entrance to the apartment is around the back and Dean is usually out in the junk yard salvaging anyway, it wasn't too hard. He didn't even notice that i'd taken in so many."

"You're a clever kid, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Gabe pointed his lollipop at the other and offered a commanding expression. Sam was huffing out a quiet laugh when the door opened and a man walked in with a little girl.

Immediately Gabriel's legs stopped swinging, he hopped down and puffed up with confidence. The kid was excited but her dad seemed annoyed at best. "You guys here to pick up a mutt?" he asked point blank.

The father seemed pleased with his straightforwardness, "Yeah you can just take her back and let her pick any of them." Gabe shrugged and walked over to open the door to the cage hall, motioning for her to walk through "This way, mademoiselle."

Sam was left alone with the father for a long five minutes, trying to avoid making small talk. Something about this guy was just wrong. It was a blessing when Gabe came back out, dog and child in tow. They had picked Delilah and Gabe motioned to Sam to fill out paperwork as he walked over to debrief the dad on the situation and take the payment.

Once the duo left with their new dog, Sam and Gabe were once again alone. Sam ventured to speak "that guy...did he seem _off_ to you?" Unfortunately the shorter man had to agree, but instead he waved away the concerns "Oh Sammy, Give him a break i'd be exhausted too if I had a kid."

But no matter what he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that Sam was right.

\---

There was no way to avoid it, Gabriel couldn't leave it alone. The tension even at the front door of the house could be cut with a knife and Gabriel was already on the defensive.

 "I'm here to see the dog." he stated simply, the father he'd adopted Delilah out to shook his head "I can't let you in here, this is my house. Get lost."

 "Really man, I _insist_. It's policy, I gotta see the dog before I leave. You signed off on this in all those papers." A white lie, the father must have seen through it, he scoffed and moved to slam the door. Just as Gabe was sticking his foot in the door he saw the dog wandering up and sticking its head past its new master to see his old keeper.

Something was wrong, the shelter keeper was experienced with dogs and he recognized the limp from a mile away. When the dog got closer, he saw a laceration on his face and instantly he felt anger well up inside of him.

He turned a venomously hateful gaze on the man and took advantage of the moment of shock, pushing his entire weight onto the door and throwing it open. He moved quickly and threw the man against the wall, an arm against his chest to hold him down "You been hurtin' that dog?" the threat was obvious.

The man laughed angrily "What are you gonna do about it? It's just a stupid animal!" and that did it, fire lit up the gold of Gabe's eyes and he stepped back to land a punch on the bastard's jaw.

" ** _You_** _are the only stupid animal in this room!"_ he spat out, reeling back for another punch when the little girl rounded the corner in tears yelling for her dad. Gabriel faltered just long enough for the man to get the upper hand and honestly after that he didn't remember much...

When Gabriel came to he was out on the street and Delilah was sitting next to him dutifully. That, at least, brought a little bit of a smile to his face...which he instantly regretted as pain ached at his lip.

 

He'd have to survey his injuries later, for now he was going to get this puppy back home and safely tucked in with a pillow.  "I'm sorry, I knew somethin' was fishy about that guy. Shoulda trusted my gut." he sighed, talking hurt but it needed to be said. This could have gone a lot worse. A _lot_ worse.

Unfortunately, he had no idea that the worst was ahead.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe I hope you guys like where this is going, let me know!

Gabe patched himself up in the bathroom at the shelter, but he opted to spend the night with Delilah to make sure she was okay. They awoke snuggled up in the backroom on a pile of pillows on the floor, and it seemed like there was no lasting damage for either of them. He put the pup back into her cage and settled her in with all the luxuries, screw his facade today...she needed to be pampered. It was the least he could do.

Sam showed up at the normal time, with starbucks in tow and a smile on his face. He pushed through the front door as Gabe walked into the office, head hung low, rubbing one of his eyes. "Morning Gabe, you look ro--" The shorter man looked up and Sam was frozen.

"What the hell  _happened_  to you?" he quickly tossed the drink carrier on the counter and moved in to examine Gabriel's face, careful not to touch him.

"What, you think this is bad? You oughta see the other guy." he didn't think that answer would tide his taller friend over, though, so he added with a dismissive wave "Some asshole at the bar last night was tryin' t'tell me that  _Purina_  was top of the line. Puh!"

Sam frowned, that joke wasn't even close to his normal humor...something was definitely wrong...but it was clear that he wasn't going to talk about it.

Gabriel slunk into the chair behind the desk and pulled out his caramel frappachino with extra whipped cream and caramel syrup, hunched over and sipped at it through the straw.

In defeat, the young Winchester decided to go and check on the dogs. He passed Delilah's cage and stopped, confused. There she sat, wagging her tale with her ears back like she'd done something wrong.

His frown deepened as he kneeled and got a good look at her...not only was she back...but she wasn't in the best shape. The pieces fell together and Sam felt his fist clench in anger, but he trusted Gabriel to tell him only what he needed to know, so he didn't bring it up. Living with Dean taught him how to act around people who didn't talk about feelings easily.

Days went by and things were finally starting to go back to normal. They adopted out a couple puppies to some lovely families and thought nothing of it when the door chimed again one afternoon. A pair of cops stepped into the office and looked around, Sam flashed Gabe a questioning look, only getting a dark glance in return.

Gabe hopped down from the countertop where he'd been perched, "Officers." he greeted shortly. The cops looked him over and then gestured towards the back "You guys got a dog back there we need to see. Case of an animal attack."

Sam glowered and shook his head "That's impossible, we don't adopt out violent do--" but Gabe waved him quiet, the cops spoke again "You should know better than to adopt out dogs that don't pass the adoption trials. You know we hate to do this, Gabriel."

Suddenly everything was different and the world closed in on Sam as the picture became complete. Gabriel had done this before, had a dog taken and put down because of some accident or asshole owner. These cops knew him by first name and they obviously didn't want to be here taking a dog in. Sam was speechless.

Gabriel took the cops back and helped them muzzle Delilah up. Her wounds weren't nearly as bad anymore, and as she was loaded in a crate and taken away. Sam didn't know what to say to Gabe, his golden eyes were cold and lifeless. All Sam could do was skip his classes and stay with his friend quietly all day. When it came closing time he walked the older man to the door and hesitated before leaving "Gabriel...can I come over? Maybe we can have a drink and talk."

For the first time since the incident, the shelter owner seemed to see Sam "What? Yeah, I mean sure why not." They piled in the car and Gabe thought to ask "Your brother gonna be okay with this?" The Winchester gave some mock reassurance but honestly he wasn't sure, he'd text and say he was with a girl or something.

They got to the apartment and cracked open some beers, Gabe lit a fire in the fireplace and turned on some music before plopping down on the couch next to his friend. "So what d'you wanna talk about Sambo?"

Honestly he didn't  think it through this far "Well I uh... just wanted to hang out. Nothing in particular to talk about." Gabe stared at him hard for a long minute before breaking the gaze and responding "That so! Shoulda said so, kiddo, here let me show you some embarrassing baby photos of my brother Cassie"

They spent most of the night laughing over brothers and finishing off a six-pack.  Something was still off about the older of the two, but Sam had a plan. It was time to research.

He went home that night and put his nose in the law books, after all that's what he was good at. He called out of helping at the shelter for two days before he burst in one morning.

"Morning Gabriel i'm sorry I haven't been around. So...Get this!" and he moved towards the counter with a stack of papers in his hands. Maybe there was hope yet.


End file.
